ABSTRACT
The respiratory, distant part of the mammalian lung is lined by a continuous epithelium which basically consists of two distinctive cell types:
The squamous type I pneumocytes* — characterized by their attenuated cytoplasm that extends into thin sheets over capillaries and may cover up to 96% of the alveolar wall1
The cuboidal type II pneumocytes* — also called great alveolar cells, granular pneumocytes, or alveolar type II cells
